Save yourself time not moneyToo many times I've skimped by only buying 2-3 sample pots only to find that they're not quite right. Then it's back to the shop/website to buy another followed by yet another visit to buy one more - Argh! If you've got 5+ colours on your shortlist buy them all now. For the sake of another £4 per pot it'll save you so much time. Whilst you're at it buy a good quality roll of wallpaper lining paper too.

Paint 'em upHere's where you need your lining paper. Take a good meter of paper per colour and paint the whole piece. Leave to dry. Now you have portable large-scale colour samples. Take each colour and stick them on the wall that receives the most light, then the darkest wall. If the paint will be on any horizontals such as shelves lay the samples down too. This will give you the best idea of how the colours look in the actual room and at different times of the day and under artificial light be it vibrant or dull, yellow or pink tinge, cold or warm. It's possible that you'll also spot colours which work better together immediately.

Decision timeYou should by now know which colours to use so here's a paint calculator to help you get your paint quantities right but if you still haven't decided by now call us at The Open Plan as we'll be happy to help.

Eco call!Should you have sample pots or paint left over please don't throw them out. Instead take a look at our post on decorating ideas with un-used paint. Alternatively, you can donate your paint to re-cycling schemes such as Community Repaint based at local refuse sites across London and the UK who will redistribute paint to worthy causes and even re-process old paint into brand new paintas well asrecycle the plastic pots and tins.

Do you find it difficult to pick colours for your interiors? Wonder how on earth you combine more than two colours in one space? What if I told you about some quick and easy ways to do this?

Colour Picker Apps and WebsitesAs a trained designer with an eye for detail and a love of colours I'll often refer back to useful references to double-check myself. Then at times I'll find the perfect colour but need to turn it into an actual paint. So, here I'll tell you about some of my favourite Apps and websites that help me on a daily basis.

NB With all the combinations you may come up with, a simple rule of thumb is if you want a bold room use the boldest colour in the colour scheme on large expanses such as walls, floors, doors and sofas and the subtler colours as accents on the ceiling, architectural features and soft furnishings. For a calmer room just reverse this formula.​1. Design Seeds - Following on fromPart 1of this colour scheme guide, this is an even easier way to take inspiration from images, landscapes and nature with pre-picked images already colour picked to give you instant colour scheme. Look up a colour and see a whole range of palettes to use on your home.

​2. Dulux Colour Visualiser - This easy to use app lets you pick a colour from anywhere, and, with augmented reality technology, allows you to see the colours live in your living space. And that’s not all. They'll also offer you suggested colour schemes to help complete your look.

​3. Valspar Virtual Painter - This American paint range is now stocked in B&Q and comes in a massive range of sophisticated colours. Similar to the Dulux app you can paint any room in a try before you buy fashion and you've just extended your options by 1764 colours.

4. Color Picker - This app helps you to find the RGB (useful for printing projects such as custom walls) and RAL colour (the universal colour list) from an image in seconds. Having this information means that you can get the perfect shade to match anything!

Watch out for Part 3 and if you missed Part 1 of our guide go back and read it here now!